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Boggart-Banishing Spell
|type = Charm |hand = |light = None |effect = Turns a Boggart into something amusing }} The Boggart-Banishing Spell (Riddikulus) is a charm that is used to defeat a Boggart. It causes the creature to assume a form that is humorous to the caster, along with a whip-crack noise, thereby taking away the Boggart's ability to terrorise. Boggarts are defeated by laughter, so forcing them to assume an amusing form is the first step to defeating them. However, because Boggarts are amortal, this spell does not truly destroy them, similar to the Patronus Charm, but merely "banish" them — meaning the defeated Boggart vanish, and presumably re-materialize elsewhere. History Professor Remus Lupin taught this spell to his third year Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Thanks to Lupin's teaching, Harry Potter was able to use this against a Boggart in the Triwizard Maze in 1995. Casting A simple charm that requires force of mind, to cast, the spell caster must first acknowledge what they fear the most (as it will most likely be what the Boggart will take the form of) and then visualise it into something amusing. The problem is, because the Boggart would have assumed said form at the moment of direct encounter, the one attempting to use this charm would have lost concentration after seeing the Boggart manifest their worst fears, making this spell useless. As such, it is always advisable to first take one step at a time when practising this spell. Known uses Etymology "Riddikulus" is an adaptation of "ridiculous" as well as of ridiculum (Latin, "joke") and ridere (Latin, "to laugh"). Behind the scenes *Despite the spell canonically producing no light, the July 2018 trailer for shows a brief flash of white light upon the incantation being spoken, both times the spell is cast. *The effect of the Boggart-Banishing Spell varies throughout the series. In , it has its stated effect of forcing a Boggart into an amusing form and otherwise does not harm it. In , however, Harry uses the spell to make a Boggart-Dementor explode into a wisp of smoke (though it is possible he found a Dementor collapsing into wisps of smoke "funny", and the Boggart was forced to take the form of an exploded Dementor, more than it actually exploded in earnest). Various anecdotes on describe Riddikulus transforming Boggarts in a variety of ways, not all of which being directly related to making the Boggart funny. *The wand movement given for the Boggart-Banishing Spell resembles a large grin, likely on purpose. *In , only Ron and Hermione learn this spell due to Harry being locked out of the class by Draco Malfoy while Lupin is teaching it to his class. Harry instead learns Expecto Patronum from Lupin to defeat his Dementor boggart, and in return Ron and Hermione do not learn Expecto Patronum. *In , Riddikulus is one of Hermione's abilities, though it does nothing more than break nearby objects and damage nearby enemies. *In , the spell was first appeared in the first Herbology class of Year 3, when Penny was confronted with one Boggart in the form of a werewolf, and Pomona Sprout used the spell to banish the Boggart. The spell was later taught by Filius Flitwick in Charms class instead of an absentee Defence Against Dark Arts professor. Appearances * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Notes and references de:Riddikulus es:Encantamiento repulsor de boggarts fi:Naurretavus fr:Riddikulus pt-br:Feitiço de expulsão de bichos-papões ru:Ридикулус pl:Riddikulus Category:Charms Category:Defence Against the Dark Arts Category:Spells of known incantation